• Published 16th May 2014
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A Brave New World - Ausbrony



A side story to A New World, A New Way. Pokemon Trainer, Seth Crescent finds himself in a new world, and a new body when a plan enacted by Arceus takes effect.

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Chapter Two

Chapter Two.

Seth groaned as he put a hand, (oh, wait. It was a paw now) to his head, a mild throbbing pain echoing in his mind.

“Well I’ve certainly slept better,” He was laying on his back and a weight on his chest forced his eyes open to find the cause. But when they did eventually open, all he could see was green.

“What the?”

It took a few moments for his brain to wake up and once it did, he realised that he was hugging something that lay on top of him. Said something stirred and Apple Fritter opened her eyes, staring straight into Seth’s.

“Hmm? Oh! G’morning Luxray!” she chirped happily. Seth groaned as she rolled off of him and onto the floor. She stretched like a Meowth, extending her front hooves until a satisfying ‘crack’ was heard. “Ah, that’s better. You make a nice pillow~”

Had she slept with him all night!? Seth fought back a small blush as he stretched himself out. Once he felt a little more limber, he slid off of the couch as Fritter had already made her way into the kitchen to cook.

“I don’t about you, but I’m starving,” Fritter called out. “Y’all seemed to like those fritters last night, so how about another delicious apple dish?”

“Sure,” Seth called out, right before another problem hit.

He seriously had to use the bathroom.

He walked into the kitchen and poked at Fritter to get her attention.

“Huh? What’s up?” It became pretty obvious when he trotted in place and looked around fervently. “Ooh, bathroom?”

Seth nodded and Fritter giggled. “Upstairs, second door on the right.” The words barely left her mouth before he raced upstairs, tripping over himself a few times in the process, leaving Fritter to giggle again.

“Okay, second door? Must be this one.” He nudged the door open and looked around. It was a pretty big room actually. A large claw-foot tub was against one wall, with a shower head hanging overhead. A sink with a medicine cabinet was against the connecting wall and in the opposite corner was what he assumed was the toilet. It was more like a ceramic trough on the floor, with a pull chain flush next to it.

“This would be awkward as hell to use as a human, but now… guess I just gotta go with it I suppose.”

***


As Seth finished upstairs, the water pipes gave a loud rattle causing Apple Fritter to frown. She had only called a plumber last week about those. But it looks like that moustachioed jerk had done a dodgy job.

“Looks like I’ll have to call that other one,” she muttered. “That one with the green hat…”

The oven gave a cheerful ding and Fritter carefully pulled the tray out, setting the miniature apple pies on a cooling rack.

She already prepared some cinnamon toast and apple juice for breakfast, but she still had to replace all the stock that spoiled yesterday. That was going to eat into her profits a bit; perhaps she could offer what she had today at a small discount? At least try to sell everything and cut her losses to a minimum.

“Well, provided that it’s calmed down out there anyway.”

Seth descended the staircase, only stumbling once, a new personal record.

“Heya Lux!” Fritter said. “I put yer breakfast on the table, so help yourself.”

Seth nodded and as he sat, what Apple Fritter had said, or more like how she had said it, actually clicked. On instances, her accent seemed to change from a Southern drawl, to a slightly more refined speech pattern, he wondered why as he munched on a piece of toast.

After a few minutes, Apple sat down to eat her own breakfast. “I gotta go to market today, try and make up what I lost yesterday.” Her eyes suddenly went wide as she waved a hoof and smiled. “Oh! Ah’m not blamin’ you Sugarcube, ah’m glad ya saved me.”

There it was again, only much more prominent. It seemed her accent only appeared when she got excited or emotional. He highly doubted she was doing it on purpose.

“You’re wondering about my accent… aren’t you?” The timing of that question made him cough, he wondered if she could read his mind as well.

“It’s nuthin really,” she dropped the refined accent completely as she explained. “When ah first moved on up here, those stinkin’ nobles wouldn’ buy from me, simply cause mah accent made me sound like an ‘unrefined hick’” she said, making quotes in the air with her hooves. “So ah adopted a more,” her accent shifted again, flawlessly. “A more refined sense I suppose.”

Seth nodded, taking a sip of juice. It seemed that Apple Fritter had to go through a lot, just to live here.

“It’s hard, but ah don’t mind.” She sighed and drained her glass, “Ah get ta be mahself inside these four walls, or anywhere else really, just not at market.”

Gods! It was so annoying that he couldn’t hold a proper conversation. At least if he was a psychic-type, he might have been able to use telepathy. He felt jealous of any human that was in that situation right now.

Elsewhere, a Gallade sneezed.

He settled for sitting next to her and patting her on the back, eliciting a smile from the mare.
“Thanks Lux, yer alright, ya know?”

Seth smiled, and then a thought occurred to him. He might not be able to speak, but what about writing? He found a piece of paper on the coffee table and brought it over to the mare. Seeing what he was trying to do, she fetched a quill and inkpot for him. Seth stared at the quill for a moment, wondering how on earth he was going to use it, then he had another idea.

After a few moments of experimentation, he figured out how to extend his claws. Dipping one claw into the inkpot he began scrawling on the page. Once he was done, Fritter leaned over his shoulder and her eyes scanned the letters he had written. He admitted that his claw-writing was a little messy, but the more Fritter read, the more her brow furrowed. Maybe the written language was different too?

After she read it, and then re-read it, she turned to him.

“What the hay is a human?”

It worked!? She could read it? Seth beamed widely and scrawled down some more info, like that his name was actually Seth and he had no idea where he was.

Apple Fritter glanced at her clock and nodded, “I gotta get to market, gotta sell a lot of apples…” She paused and put a hoof to her chin. “How about it Seth, you wanna come?” That giant blue alligator from yesterday might still be hanging around, and she didn’t feel right just letting Luxray wander the city alone. Plus it looked like they had a lot to talk about, or rather, she had a lot to explain to the lost Pokémon.

Seth nodded, he wanted to learn more about this place anyway. He could also use the opportunity to gather information about his lost Pokémon.


***


“So the name of the country you’re in is Equestria, one of the largest nations on Equus.” He had forgotten to bring something to write on, but he had a good memory. Apple Fritter paused for a second and waited for him to nod as a sign to continue.

“Well, ya got three types of ponies. First are Earth ponies like me. Second are Pegasi, they have wings and are in in charge of the weather. Third are the Unicorns, the have magic and it’s what most of the population of Canterlot are.”

She waited for another moment and decided she wanted to know a few things. “Can ah ask you some stuff? I’ll keep it to simple yes and no answers.” Seth nodded and Apple Fritter asked away.

“Okay, so in yer writings before, you said you were looking for friends of yours. Are they Pokémon too?” Seth nodded and Fritter smiled. “Okay, when we get home, if give me some detailed descriptions and ah’ll do what I can to help.” She thought for a moment and asked her second question.

“So are you really from another world?” Seth pondered on this for a second. He was pretty well versed in Earths geography, and if a place like this existed, then he’d know about it. Seth nodded again.

“That’s… well that’s really something.” Apple Fritter couldn’t believe that she was talking with a creature from another world. Wait until cousin Applejack heard about this.

They continued to talk but as they walked further into the city centre, something seemed… off. Seth good a decent look around yesterday and he could tell that it was a big city, Apple Fritter told him it was the capital city of all of Equestria.

So why did it look so deserted?

“Land’s sakes, if the whole city is like this, how the heck am I supposed to sell my apples?” Fritter and Seth got to the market, only to see that it too was almost empty, a few vendors had shown up, but it was pretty quiet none the less.

A tall, slender mare approached them, a worried expression on her face. “Hey there Fritter, pretty quiet day huh?”

“Y’all can say that again,” given her accent, Seth figured that this new pony must have been a friend of Apple Fritter.

“Oh, lemme introduce ya to mah new friend,” Fritter beamed. She motioned to Seth, “This is Seth, he saved my from a pretty bad situation yesterday.” Seth bowed his head politely and the mare returned the gesture.

“This is Mocha Latte, she runs the best coffee shop in all of Equestria.” Mocha blushed at the praise and rubbed her foreleg. Two more ponies approached, one had a pinkish cream coat, almost the same colour as a humans skin tone. She had a vibrant pink mane pushed back with a headband and her tail was tapered at the base with cloth while the rest was done up with dreadlocks.

The second mare was a banana yellow colour, very similar to Apple Fritter’s. Her mane and tail was streaked with cream and caramel tones. She really looked like she was Fritter’s sister, her manestyle was even the same.

“Berry Smoothie!” Apple Fritter greeted the first one, “And this is her little sister, Banana Smoothie. They run a juice bar called the ‘Daily Punch’ here in the market, and are probably my biggest customers.”

“Unfortunately, today doesn’t seem like a good day for business.” Berry sighed, but Banana seemed in high spirits regardless. It hadn’t taken her long to move next to Seth and promptly hug him tightly.

“Oh my Celestia! He’s sooooo fluffy~” Berry sighed and proceeded to try and pry her sister from the surprised Pokémon.

“Sorry,” Berry said. “My little sister can get a bit excited sometimes… I think she spends too much time with Pinkie.”

Mocha gave a brief shudder when Pinkie’s name was mentioned. “So if I may ask Fritter dear,” Mocha said, wanting a change of subject. “Just what is your friend here? I’ve never seen anything quite like him.”

“Well his name is Seth but he can’t talk like us, all he can say is Luxray. He saved me yesterday, I gave him some food and now we’re friends.”

“That’s it?” Mocha asked.

“Naw, he’s something called, er… oh yeah, a Pokémon. And that he’s a critter from another world.”

Berry and Banana stared at their friend for a second before bursting at laughing.

“Oh wow Fritter,” Berry giggled. “A creature from another world? Have you been staying up reading those sci-fi novels again?”

“It’s true, Seth said so himself!” Apple Fritter pouted. “Why don’t you believe me?”

“Well because it sounds ridiculous.”

Apple Fritter just poked out her tongue. “Well I believe him, so pbbtthh!”

Mocha just laughed and shook her head; Fritter was absolutely adorable when she acted like this. After the giggles died down, the four mares looked around the market, noticing that not a single pony had come by the whole time.

“Um, did we miss a public service announcement or something?” Banana wondered. The clatter of hooves resounded on the cobblestone as several armoured Solar Guard ran into the market place.

“Over there!” One of them shouted, pointing right at Seth. “There’s one!”

As they got closer, Seth prepared to run like hell, except that he didn’t know what these new ponies would do to Fritter. But when the mare stepped in between them and himself, he then wondered what she’d do to them.

“Now jus’ hold yer horses, what in tarnation do ya’ll think yer gonna do ta mah friend!” Fritter glared at the guard, but they didn’t back down.

“We are taking these creatures into custody,” the captain announced. “They are causing disturbances all around the city, so stand aside Miss.”

“Ah’ll do no such thang!” Apple Fritter said, standing tall and puffing out her chest. “Seth here is mah friend. He has done nothing but help me and ah’ll defend him with everything ah have!”
Well the captain certainly wasn’t expecting this. Everypony they had met thus far had been grateful for their efforts. As he was weighing his options, a messenger pegasus arrived to deliver orders from the palace.

Though the strangest thing was that she was running instead of flying.

“Sir, Miss Dizzy Punch reporting. I have an important message from the palace!” Berry and Banana Smoothie raised their eyebrows. What the hay was Dizzy doing, running messages for the palace?

The captain waved a hoof dismissively. “It can wait; I have a dangerous creature to capture!”
“B-but, it’s from-“

“Men! Get ready to deploy the nets!” the captain ordered. “I want this creature bagged and tagged!”

“An’ ah said you’ll do no such thing!” Apple Fritter yelled. “An’ ah reckon I could buck you right into next week iffn’ ya’ll try!”

They butted heads and Seth was worried that they really would come to blows, all because of him. Luckily, Dizzy Punch was quite fed up and her eyes flared with anger.

“WILL YOU BOTH CALM DOWN!” The captain and Fritter suddenly sat down and blinked in confusion, fear and surprise. “Right,” Dizzy took a breath and calmed herself down before continuing. “This message comes from Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia, herself. The message is as such. To all Royal Guard and citizens of Canterlot, the creatures otherwise known as Pokémon, are not to be harmed or captured, unless they enact a violent act first. The Pokémon are currently under Royal Protection Protocols until their reasons for being here have been confirmed.”

The captain’s eyes widened as that sunk in. If he had captured this creature, he may have been severely punished, maybe even discharged from his duties.

“Talks have begun between ambassadors from the world these Pokémon hail from, and myself and Princess Twilight Sparkle. We ask that all citizens please be patient for a solution to be found.

From the office of HRH Princess Celestia!”

Dizzy finished reciting the message and nodded, “And that’s it.”

The captain nodded, “Alright, orders received. Well shall release the crea- er… Pokémon, that we have captured thus far.” He turned to the rest of his squad and waved his hoof. “Alright men, let’s get to it.”

The squad left and Apple Fritter huffed in annoyance. “How do ya like them apples? Not even a single apology!”

Berry sighed, before in relief and disdain. “Thanks for the save Dizzy, I didn’t want to have to pay for that guys hospital bills.”

Dizzy nodded happily and Seth tilted his head in confusion. “Lux?” He said, wanting to know what she meant by that.

“If you’re asking why,” Mocha Latte responded. “It’s because our dear Apple Fritter here is stronger than she looks.”

Fritter blushed and waved a hoof. “I’m not that strong…”

Mocha smiled and shook her head, “Fritter dear, we all remember that purse snatcher that robbed me that one time, and that you bucked him clear across the street.”

“It was awesome!” Banana said. “He sure flew for a pony that didn’t have wings!”

Apple Fritter just buried her head in her hooves and groaned. “Okay, okay ah get it. Ah’m a freakishly strong pony. Ah tend to break stuff by accident and no stallion likes a mare that’s stronger that he is.”

“Oh come now, we didn’t mean it like that.” Mocha felt bad though, she didn’t mean to hurt her friend’s feelings. Berry and even Banana looked down at their hooves, muttering apologies.

Fritter raised her head and after a second, poked her tongue out.

“Gotcha!”

Mocha frowned and bonked her on the head with a hoof. “You are a very mean pony Miss Fritter.” She looked around the empty market and shrugged. “Well it seems pointless to stay here, I bet most ponies are probably hiding in their homes, so I think the marketplace may be a bit quiet for the next few days.”

Everypony groaned, they knew that was gonna hurt their sales pretty badly.

“Guess we have little choice,” Berry said. “Well, I guess a little impromptu holiday never hurt anypony-“

“Ooh, ooh can we go to Neighagra Falls?” Banana asked hopefully. “I wanna go there!”
Berry just shook her head and sighed. “…Maybe, but we need to ask Vanilla first.” Banana bounced up and down with glee as they headed off. “See you later girls,” Berry called out as they left.

Mocha and Fritter waved goodbye and Mocha decided she should head out too. Apple Fritter knew exactly what the older mare would be doing with her time off.

“Gonna go find that big, strapping stallion of yours huh?” Mocha turned bright red and decided that the ground offered a great view. “Well, have fun~” Fritter giggled and Mocha trotted off, a slight spring in her step.

“Well what should we do Seth?” Fritter asked the quiet Pokémon.

He had been thinking on that for a while now, and he decided that looking for his partners would be the best idea, if they were even here in the city. He scratched that out onto a dirt patch and once Apple Fritter read it, she nodded in agreement.

“Alrighty then, let’s go find yer kin.”


***


Rika was not having a good day. She had remembered going to sleep next her beloved Seth, only to wake up in the middle of a park.

And she had no freakin idea where she, or anyone else from her team, even was.

Oh, but it got better. As she wandered around the strange city, some strange creature nabbed her right off the street and had spent yesterday and today taking photographs of her and a poor Flaffy.

But it got better still. The Flaffy, one who had been near her when the Sylveon first woke up…

Well she had been claiming for the last day that she was the Gym Leader, Elesa.


***


Once Seth and Fritter had dropped her cart back at home, they wandered aimlessly around the massive city, searching for anything that might lead them to Seth’s missing companions. He had come across several Pokémon, but after asking them, none of them had seen the ones Seth was looking for.

“I wonder if they’re even in the city.” Seth wondered aloud as they walked. “Or maybe they got captured by those guards from earlier… nah, if Ignis got captured then there wouldn’t be much of a city left.”

Fritter remained silent as the Luxray just continued to mutter to itself. Between last night and now, it was pretty obvious to the mare that he missed his friends like crazy.

“Don’t worry Seth, we’ll find them, ah just know it!”

Seth nodded, Fritter made him feel a lot better about the situation at least. He turned his head back and suddenly found himself staring into the face of another pony, this one was wearing large purple sunglasses and a black and white striped dress.

“Oh?.. OH! I can feel it, ze magicks!” The mare suddenly grabbed Seth’s paw and began to drag him off. “Come, we must create!”

Seth couldn’t react, this mare wanted to do what now? He shot a glace to Fritter, who just offered a helpless shrug in return as she followed them. Yeah, great help she was.

Whoever this mare was, her grip was like iron. “If I could use Thunderbolt, you’d be doing a great impression of a bug zapper right now,” Seth muttered.


They eventually arrived at a rather gaudy looking building. The lobby held various pieces of artworks, abstract paintings and statues and most prominently, dozens of photographs. Several ponies waited inside, all had rather unique senses of fashion. Apple Fritter suddenly felt very underdressed for some reason and hung back from the group.

“So you found another?” One of the mares asked.

“Its black coat will contrast nicely with the other two,” One of the stallions added.

Photo Finish puffed out her chest proudly, “Exactly vhat I vas thinking. I, Photo Finish vill become even greater thanks to zese strange creatures!”

“Um, they’re called Pokémon.” Apple Fritter said from behind them. Photo Finish turned, only now realising that the farmer was even there.

“Who are you?”

Fritter pointed to Seth. “I’m with him. His name is Seth and he’s currently staying with me.”

“I see,” Photo pondered for a moment, “Okay, I, Photo Finish have decided… she shall be allowed to stay. Now come, we have to perform… ze magicks!”

Seth just groaned as he was dragged off again. “What the actual fuck is going on here?”


Past the lobby was a large studio, where even more photographs and artworks adorned the walls. A section at the back must have been where she took these photos, a white backdrop with those reflector-thingies. Seth didn’t know what the heck they were called.

“Are ze other two ready yet?” Photo asked her stylist, an Asian-looking mare with heavy eye shadow and a short blue mane. The simply nodded and Photo smiled widely. “Excellent! Bring zhem out. We begin!”

Seth was pushed in front of the backdrop by another of her assistants, a brown mare with a sharp gaze. There didn’t seem to be any way of getting out of this so Seth just figured he’d roll with it. As he sat there, a hesitant looking Sylveon and a Flaffy came out from another room, the stylist from before adding some touch ups as they walked.

The Sylveon swatted at the mare with one of her prehensile ribbons, clearly annoyed over the total lack of respect for personal boundaries. As they got closer, she laid eyes on the bored-looking Luxray sitting there.

“Oh wonderful, that madmare pokénapped another one.” She sat near him and looked him over, he seemed a little larger than a normal Luxray, and his eyes… there was something she couldn’t quite lay her paw on.

The Flaffy walked over and Photo immediately started to take photograph the sheep Pokémon, who was more than happy to pose for the camera. Seeing as how the mare would be busy for the moment, the Sylveon tried to get a few words out of the Luxray.

“So how did she get you?” The fairy Pokémon asked, only to get total silence as a response. She frowned and tried again, maybe he didn’t hear her despite his huge ears. “Hey? You okay?” It wasn’t until she tried poking the Pokémon that he flinched and looked at her.

“H-huh? Wha?” Seth had actually dozed off for a second there, until to be roused by an adorable Sylveon…

Wait a minute?

“I said, are you okay? She asked again. “Or are you totally insane like little bo sheep over there.”
Seth just blinked, though he’d spoken to that Feraligatr yesterday, it was still weird to actually hear a Pokémon speak. “Uh, sorry. I think I dozed off for a second.”

“It’s fine, you seem sane enough.” Rika smiled softly, “Or do you think you’re a human too?”


“What?”

Sylveon nodded and pointed to the Flaffy, “That one over there. She swears that she’s the Gym Leader, Elesa. And she knew my name too, so I don’t know what to think right now.” Ever since she had woken up yesterday, Rika had been more concerned with finding her beloved trainer, but she’d been forced to deal with near endless levels of crazy instead. “I just wanna find Seth and go home,” she whined.

She certainly didn’t expect the Luxray to tackle her to the ground as he hugged her. “Rika!? It’s you?”

Rika flushed bright red, “W-w-w-w-what are you DOING?!” She blasted the clingy Pokémon with her Hyper Voice, causing everypony in the room the clutch their ears. Only Photo Finish seemed unfazed as she continued to snap away.

Seth on the other hand was sent spiralling through the air and landed several feet away. “It is you!” He shouted once he had hit the ground.

“What the hell? Why are you trying to get fresh with me!?” Rika yelled as she stomped over to him. She was gonna string this bastard up with her ribbons and beat him to death.

“Rika, it’s me… Seth!” Okay, that was at least enough to cause the Sylveon to stop.

“W-what?”

Seth got to his feet and nodded. “It’s really me, well sort of. I’m a Luxray now, not sure why but hey, whatever.”

“Enough!” Rika shouted. Tears were stinging her eyes now and she’d reached her breaking point. “I’ve gone through a lot and now a Luxray that seems to be touched in the head claims to be my beloved?” Forget the beating; she was going to murder him.

“When I first caught you, I named you Blitz cause I thought you were a male.”

Rika paused.

“And you like spicy Poképuffs, but eat sweet ones when you think no-one is looking.”

Rika began to tear up again.

“And there was that one time you kissed me on the cheek, but used Draining Kiss instead…”

The words faded as Rika tackled him, gently wrapping her ribbons around him as she embraced her trainer.
“It really is you!” she cried. “No one else could know all that… I don’t care how, and I don’t care why you’re a Pokémon, I’m just so happy you’re alright!” She sobbed loudly as Seth rubbed her head, smiling as his own tears fell.

“I’m glad I found you Rika.” They stayed like that for a few moments, nopony daring to ruin the mood that was going on. Even Photo Finish was still, the camera sitting unused.

“But how did this happen?” Rika asked. “Why are we here, and why are you a Pokémon?”

“I’m a Pokémon too y’know!” The Flaffy huffed and Seth looked up. The pink sheep stood there, pouting. But the first thing he noticed were the headphones she wore, large circular ones with long cords hanging from them.

“Is that you Elle?” he asked.

“Well duh, I’ve been telling Dumbeon there for the last day and a half, but she wouldn’t believe me.” She paused and smirked. “Though if you’re really Seth, then I know a way to prove it.” She got closer until she could whisper in his ear, “Remember that night we got stuck on the Ferris wheel?”

Seth suddenly turned a very bright shade of red under his dark fur, his mouth opening and closing as he failed to form words, or even basic sounds.

“I’ll take that as a yes~” Elesa grinned, leaving Rika to wonder what the heck she had said to him. “But Rika does have a point, what the hell happened to us?”

Seth shook his head to clear his mind from ‘distracting’ memories and shrugged. “I have no idea, I remember falling asleep, and then I woke up here.”

“Same for us,” Rika replied. “And what about the others? Ignis, Selene, the newbie?”

“You’re the first one I found,” Seth informed her. “I haven’t met many other Pokémon at all yet, but I collapsed yesterday and Apple Fritter’s been taking care of me since then.”

As he motioned to the apple farmer, the mare could swear that the two new Pokémon were giving her dirty looks. Did she do something wrong?

“Well… what do we do now?” Rika asked. She didn’t really care as long as it wasn’t here.

“We can go with Fritter-“ Seth’s words were cut off as a powerful voice rang inside his head, and judging from the looks on everyone’s faces, Pokémon and ponies, then he wasn’t the only one hearing it.

“Greetings citizens of Equus, both old and new. I am Lord Arceus, creator of the Pokémon realm. You have no reason to fear me, I come in peace.”

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